Oct. 9, 2007

MEN’S SOCCER: Rivalry Match Ahead as Lutes Face Loggers

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at Puget Sound, Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.; Alumni Match, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; PLU at George Fox, Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

Jason Bjorgo

RIVALRY RENEWED: Pacific Lutheran (7-5-0 overall, 5-1-0 NWC) travels across town to face the defending Northwest Conference champion Puget Sound Loggers (10-1-0 overall, 5-1-0 NWC) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The teams are currently tied for second in the conference, one-half game behind the 6-1 Whitworth Pirates. Earlier this season, Puget Sound defeated Whitworth, 1-0, while Whitworth beat the Lutes, 1-0. In addition to the importance this game has on the conference standings, it certainly takes on more significance as a rivalry match. Last year, the teams tied 1-1 in two overtimes in their first meeting before the Loggers pinned a 2-0 loss on PLU in the rematch. Pacific Lutheran’s most recent win in the series came on Sept. 23, 2004 when the Lutes took a 2-1 victory on their home field.

ABOUT PUGET SOUND: The 2007 Loggers started the season with nine straight wins before suffering a double overtime defeat to the Pacific Boxers last weekend. The Loggers lost despite taking 41 shots to just 12 for the Boxers. Puget Sound features a balanced offense with 10 different players tallying goals this season. Alex Lehecka leads the team with six, followed closely by Scott Blanchett with five and Taylor Hyde and Greg Swanson with four apiece. In 11 matches this season, the Loggers have scored 31 goals while giving up just four. Goalkeeper Pete Van Sant has spent every minute between the pipes for the Loggers and has a very stingy 0.35 goals against average while making 43 saves.

Derek Karamatic

SECOND HALF STARTS ON SUNDAY: The second half of the Northwest Conference season starts for the Lutes on Sunday when they travel to Newberg to take on the George Fox Bruins. The Lutes defeated the Bruins, 4-0, in their conference opener back in September, and it was also PLU’s first win of the season after a 0-4 start. Since that shaky beginning, the Lutes have won seven of eight matches. The Bruins (3-8-1 overall, 1-5-1 NWC) have scored 15 goals and have allowed 22 this season. Carlos Pehr and Justin Meyer both have three goals to lead George Fox in that category, and Kyle Putnam and Jake Maguire have shared the minutes in goal and combined for a 1.78 goals against average.

LUTES END DROUGHT: Pacific Lutheran ended nearly a decade of frustration against Linfield, beating the Wildcats, 2-0, in a Northwest Conference men’s soccer match played Sunday at Curtis High School. Pacific Lutheran had not defeated Linfield in men’s soccer since September of 1998, but that drought of 17 winless decisions – 16 losses and one tie – came to an end when the Lutes scored a pair of second half goals. The first tally came at 60:58 when Michael Ferguson’s cross was touched on by Trevor Jacka to Jason Bjorgo, who finished past Linfield goalkeeper Mike Belzberg. The goal was the fourth of the season for Bjorgo. Ferguson had an assist on the second goal as well when his corner kick squirted out to the top of the box where Ryan Hanna slammed it through a maze of players and into the net at the 73:37 mark. Linfield almost got one goal back with about four minutes remaining but Daniel Mangum tipped Spencer Winter’s long drive over the crossbar. Pacific Lutheran finished the match with a 10-7 advantage in shots, though Linfield had six corner kicks to four for the home team. Mangum finished with four saves and Belzberg had three for the Wildcats.

Michael Ferguson

LUTES DUMP WILLAMETTE: Michael Ferguson scored two more goals, the 42nd and 43rd of his Pacific Lutheran career, as the Lutes drubbed Willamette, 5-0, in a Saturday afternoon conference match. Ferguson broke open a scoreless match at 16:18 when he took a pass from Jason Bjorgo and hit a left-footed shot past Bearcats goalkeeper Mark Bennett. Ferguson’s second goal was a thing of beauty as he took the ball just inside the midfield line, dribbled through the Willamette defense and beat Bennett to the lower left corner from about 15 yards out. Pacific Lutheran took a 3-0 lead on Trevor Jacka’s first goal of the season, and the second half was more of the same as the Lutes picked up goals from Derek MacLean and Derek Karamatic. MacLean headed home Brennan Brown’s corner kick, and Karamatic weaved through the defense to fire home from close range. Willamette’s best scoring opportunity came with about 30 minutes remaining when a dipping 30-yard shot by Michael Rodrigues hit the crossbar and bounced over. Daniel Mangum and Brian Kostol shared the shutout in goal, both keepers making two saves. Pacific Lutheran finished the match with 18 shots compared to seven for the Bearcats, and the Lutes enjoyed an 8-2 corner kick advantage. The large lead allowed PLU head coach John Yorke to use 15 substitutes in the match.

FERGUSON WATCH: Michael Ferguson started the season 14 goals shy of tying Brian Gardner’s nearly 20-year old school career record of 49 goals. With eight goals to his credit this season, Ferguson needs seven goals in the final eight regular season matches to eclipse the record. His best single-season production came during the 2005 season when he knocked home 15 goals.

- PLU -